We held three days of workshops, run by Col. Tony Singer, designed to increase everyone’s ability to get the most from their iPads and iPhones. He covered an enormous amount of ground which instilled a new confidence to experiment with these clever devices.
Lucy Hughes-Hallett gave a talk on her book, The Pike, Gabriele D’Annunzio, which has been one of BBC Radio 4’s book of the week. It is a biography in which an appetite for sex and beautiful things is juxtaposed with warfare and deadly politics.
There is a delightful postscript to Lucy’s talk. Exactly a week afterwards, it was announced that Lucy was the winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013 for her book, The Pike. Shortly afterwards it also won the Costa Biography Award and the Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize which celebrates the best in non-fiction writing.
Catherine Bailey gave a talk about her best selling book Black Diamonds, the story of the Fitzwilliam family of Wentworth Woodhouse, who made their fortune from coal. Catherine also talked about her latest book Secret Rooms, which explains the mysterious death of the 9th Duke of Rutland in 1940. He died in a murky room next to the servants’ quarters at his family home, Belvoir Castle, a dark history kept hidden for over 60 years.
The Reverend Richard Coles, musician, journalist and Church of England priest gave a talk entitled ‘Servant of two Masters? Trying to be a Christian in the Church and in the Media’.
Richard is parish priest of St. Mary the Virigin, Finedon and presenter of the Radio 4 programme Saturday Live. In the 1980’s he partnered Jimmy Sommerville in the band The Communards, which achieved three top ten hits, including the No. 1 record and best selling single of 1986 ‘Don’t leave me this way’.
Anne Chambers, together with her husband Johnny, gave us an inspiring tour of Kiftsgate, the world-renowned garden, spectacularly set on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment. The garden is famed for its eponymous rose. It is the work of three generations of women gardeners. The garden was created by Heather Muir in the 1920’s, continued by her daughter, Diana Binny, in the 1950’s and is now looked after by her granddaughter, Anne Chambers.
Dr. Phillip Lindley, Reader in Art History at Leicester University, showed us the extraordinary beauty of the Buccleuch monuments in Warkton church and revealed the unusual history behind the church’s architecture. Afterwards, we went to Boughton House where Dr. Lindley described the development and huge scale of the 18th century gardens which now lie ‘fossilised’ under the grass.
Lady Proby showed us over Elton Hall. The present building dates back to the 15th century and contains many treasures, including fine paintings, china and furniture. Its library of around 12,000 books is one of the finest private collections in the country and contains some particularly precious Prayer Books and Bibles some of which were on display in an exhibition illustrating the history of the Bible from Wycliffe’s 14th-century translation to the glory of the King James Bible in 1611.
We visited Stanway House, a glorious example of a Jacobean manor house. It retains much of the fascinating furniture made specifically for the house. The crowning glory of Stanway are the baroque water gardens. The most spectacular feature is the single jet fountain, the tallest in Britain, which also has the distinction of being the tallest gravity driven fountain in the world.
We took a group to Aynhoe Park, a neo-Palladian house which has had the unusual good fortune to have been converted back into a private house by James Perkins having been, for many years, divided up into retirement flats. The house makes a splendid backdrop for his unique collection of sculpture, both old and modern, as well as collections of antique taxidermy and plaster casts. The 250-acre park was designed by Capability Brown.
Jeremy Musson gave a talk with the theme ‘Creating the private paradise, with reflections on behind the scenes in country houses’. He has written many books, his latest being ‘English Country House Interiors’ and he was the Architectural Editor of Country Life for nearly ten years. He is also a journalist, broadcaster, lecturer and recently has co-written and presented fourteen programmes of the Curious House Guest series for BBC 2, celebrating country houses today.
Continuing the ‘Sitwell’ theme, we took a group to Weston Hall, Northamptonshire where we were shown round by Susanna Sitwell, Sir Sacheverell’s daughter-in-law, and her son, William. They explained the intricacies of the family history and showed us the many important paintings and pieces of furniture in this fascinating house. We also saw some of Dame Edith’s exotic clothes.
After a picnic lunch in the garden we visited Plumpton church, a small Georgian country church which is in the interesting position of being owned by a private trust. Sir John Greenaway, a founding member of the trust, gave a talk on the interior and its history.
Lucy Hughes-Hallett the award winning author and critic spoke on the cult of the celebrity. She discussed how the manipulation of news for purposes of propaganda and the use of famous figures to sell merchandise may seem peculiar to the age of modern mass media, but in fact this has been part of our culture for centuries.
Lucy has written widely on literature, art and theatre, winning the Catherine Pakenham Award for journalism and the Fawcett Prize for her book on Cleopatra. She was television critic of the Evening Standard for seven years. Lucy has been a Judge of the W.H. Smith Literary Award and she reviews regularly for the Sunday Times Books section.
Adam Zamoyski based his lively and amusing talk Comedy, Error and Sex in the making of history on three of his books Holy Madness; Rites of Peace and 1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow. He explored the ways in which erroneous assumptions, cultural prejudice, misunderstandings, jealousy, spite and sex affected the outcome of seminal events which we assume to be the result of deliberate policy and reasoned decisions.
A best selling author and award-winning historian, Adam has published acclaimed books on key figures and aspects of European and world history. He is also a distinguished commentator and reviewer and has contributed to all the major British papers and periodicals. He has lectured widely in England, Europe and the United States.
Kevin Crossley-Holland, award-winning author, poet and librettist, came to talk about his autobiography, The Hidden Roads, A Memoir of Childhood, some of his own poems, many of which capture the North Norfolk coast which is now his home. “A lovely poignant book, not wasting a word and evoking place in a deep way.” Archbishop Rowan Williams reviewing The Hidden Roads.
Kevin Crossley-Holland won the Carnegie Medal for Storm, a ghost story set on the North Norfolk coast. His best-selling Arthur trilogy has now been translated into 24 languages and sold well over one million copies. The first volume, The Seeing Stone, won the Guardian Childrens’ Fiction Prize. Kevin is also a writer on Norse Mythology as well as being an acclaimed translator of the greatest surviving Anglo-Saxon poems, his translation of Beowulf receiving particular praise.
A visit was arranged to the magnificent follies of The Hoober Stand, Needles Eye and the Mausoleum all lying within the historic Humphrey Repton parkland of Wentworth Woodhouse. The house itself has the longest façade of any private house in Europe and we were able to view its East Front designed by Henry Flitcroft and also the Stables designed by John Carr on a scale to match the House. There was also a private visit to the Fitzwilliam family vault in the Old Church at Wentworth.
Renishaw proved a fascinating house to visit which has been lived in by Sitwells since it was built in 1625. In recent decades it has become famous through the writing of Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell. There was a very interesting tour of the house with its magnificent collection of works of art, followed by the inspirational Renishaw gardens created by Sir George Sitwell and added to greatly in recent years by Sir Reresby Sitwell.
William Sitwell, with his enthusiasm for his family history, and in particular for his grandfather, Sir Sacheverell, and his great uncle and great aunt, Sir Osbert and Dame Edith Sitwell, gave a fascinating and humorous talk.
William is an award-winning editor, broadcaster and writer, and a key figure in the food world. He is a frequent guest and presenter on television. A leading writer on food for the Daily Mail, he also contributes regularly to the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, as well as having previously worked on The Times and The Sunday Express. He is currently editor of the popular food magazine Waitrose Kitchen.
Anne Perkins spoke on her book, A Very British Strike. The 1926 General Strike has haunting parallels with the current day. What should a Government do when it fears that its fundamental values and even its very existence are threatened by a sector of its own society prepared to use violence? This was the case in 1926 when King George V had retreated to Windsor lest he should suffer the fate of his cousin Czar Nicholas, and Winston Churchill ordered tanks into the docks. Nevertheless within nine days a supposed revolution had been averted.
Anne Perkins has been a political correspondent for the BBC, Channel Four news and more recently the Guardian. She has also presented political programmes and documentaries for radio and television. Anne has published biographies of Barbara Castle and of Stanley Baldwin as well as an account of the General Strike. “Anne Perkins shows how formidable a historian a good journalist can be” (The Daily Telegraph review).
Andrew Wingfield Digby led a thought-provoking discussion on ‘Will Christianity survive in a secular World?’ There is a huge amount of interest in faith but traditional ways of practising Christianity in the West don’t always seem to fulfil people’s needs and expectations.
Andrew Wingfield Digby read History and Theology at Oxford. After seven years in Parish work he became the first Director of Christians in Sport in 1984 which led to his appointment as Chaplain to the British Team at the Seoul Olympic Games and also to the England Cricket Team. In 2002 he became Vicar of St. Andrews Church in North Oxford.
Alexsandra Byrne, the international make-up Artist, gave an exclusive session with tips and tricks of how to perfect a make-up routine and achieve an expensive-looking finish – “an invisible celebrity glow”.
Alexsandra Byrne is an internationally renowned make-up artist and consultant, who has worked with top models including Helena Christensen, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell, actresses such as Judi Dench, Sienna Miller, Hilary Swank and Anna Friedl and photographers Annie Leibovitz and Mario Testino. Alexsandra has also contributed editorial to most of the world’s top fashion magazines, including American, British and Italian Vogue as well as running workshops for brands including Christian Dior, Givenchy, The Jemma Kidd make-up School and MAC cosmetics.